Expert tips, guides, and insights to help you master French faster. From grammar basics to cultural nuances.
Read the explanation here, then say the sentences and see which sounds you are missing.
You were told to memorise four exceptions. The real rule is in the letter before the ILL, not the ILL itself - and half the exception lists online are out of date. Three categories, the Academie's own short list, and 20 words to say out loud....
In a French nasal vowel the N is not a sound - it is a spelling instruction, and your tongue must never touch the roof of your mouth. The three sounds, the true minimal triples, the denasalization pairs that prove it, and 10 sentences....
Stop gargling. The French R is made exactly where you say the G in get - and the reason yours is not working is the tip of your tongue. Build it in four steps, then drill 12 words, three weights of R, and 10 sentences....
One S between two vowels is /z/. Two S's are /s/. English trained you to do the opposite in exactly the word where it matters most - dessert. The rule, the boundary exceptions nobody teaches, and 20 pairs to say out loud....
Je is /ʒə/, j'ai is /ʒe/. One vowel decides whether you are speaking in the present or the past — and it runs the whole French function-word system. Drill 20 sentences out loud....
Croissant is /kʁwa.sɑ̃/ — two syllables, no T, no N. Three separate problems are stacked in one word. Take them apart, then drill 40 words and 8 counter sentences out loud....
French -tion is not "shun" — and it is not "see-yon" either. It is one syllable: /sjɔ̃/. Fix the four stacked errors, then drill 50 words and 10 sentences out loud....
Cheveux is /ø/, chevaux is /o/ - and English has no /ø/, so your default substitution lands on the other real word. Build the sound, then drill 11 minimal pairs out loud....
English puts a stressed beat inside every word. French puts one at the end of the whole phrase — and makes it with length, not volume. The rule, the 12 words English speakers get wrong, and 8 phrases to say out loud....
French ui is not oui. The glide that splits lui from Louis and huit from oui: how to build /ɥ/ out of a tongue and a pair of lips, 12 minimal pairs, and 45 words to say out loud....
é is not the English "ay" — it has no glide, and è is a different vowel entirely. The contrast that separates j'ai parlé from je parlais, why ê is not a third sound, and 45 words and pairs to say out loud....
Simply French listens to you say each sentence and scores it word by word, so you can hear the difference you have just read about — and fix it while it is still fresh.
Takes about 10 minutes. No card needed to start.
